B&E THE WATER DRAGON
ON A DOWNSLIDE
COMPACT COIL uvb CONNECTION?
MARCH 2009
B&E (Break and Exit) came here early and is my eldest from hatchling. He has taken the brunt of many of my errors. His attempts at escaping ending in tragic ways. We purchased 3. All 3 ~ males. B was intimidated by the other 2 almost immediately but I did not realize it. He ate. He just stayed in the shadows 90% of his time. His first attempt at a break out nearly led to his demise. He and the cat met. He lost. I was 6 weeks of syringe feeding. And again, he lost size to his siblings. At 8 months B&E met the cat for a second time. But he also met the Staffordshire on the same trip. Again, syringe fed for 3 to 4 weeks. The results of these meetings included the lost of 70 percent of his tail. A rear leg that does not work and remains in a curled position, (right rear), though he has some use of the foot, a severely damaged eye resulting in a lack of mobility and agility. Again he lost ground to the others, and he was permanently separated from the pair. Eventually the healthy adult males were rehomed. B has since been a pretty delicate creature and I keep a wary eye over him, by necessity. B tends to take a down swing once or twice a year and get himself quaranteened. It usually lasts a week or two and we can pull it back together. Three or four days of handfeeding and electrolites followed by a few days of good eating.
B&E is currently living alone. His basilisk was moved out due to an escape route I can't close in the hexagon. (Could that be the reason they were moved in the first place?) Neither were happy about the separation. B also napped for the winter, up and down every few days. Not customary for Asian Water Dragons. But his look and weight were good. His appetite was decent during the time. In the past month we have had a problem developing. His appetite decreasing but still eating every 2 to 3 days to present. And for the past 3 weeks the facial tissue is deteriorating. This is a new one for us.
Although I have been using the compact UVB's for the past 3 years without seeing any difficulties I believe there is a connection in this situation. I turned B's heat up a notch with a higher powered infrared, provided more solitude and turned off the coil UVB for a couple of days. His behaviour improved and I turned the UVB back on daily for 3 days......B's behaviour again indicated I had been too optimistc and he went back into hiding. I repeated the steps again and he improved.
I have taken the coil UVB out and replaced with a tube fixture now.
B is still in a halfway situation. Eating but not as much as he can. Drinking. Feces well formed. Urates looking Ok. But his skin is still very dull. Lip is looking less swollen. Eyes are sunken and dark. Some spikes look like they have retained shed on them but toes are good.
I will update this in April and see where our progress stands. Hopefully we will have made some progress.
Pat
A couple of things worth mentioning to you would be....note B's foreleg colour below the knee, very darkened, the colour around the eye is also dark, dull skin colouring. All of these are visual signs that say B is not well. His weight another.
The first sets of pictures are from March 19 and 20. The pictures directly above taken on the 23rd of March. There are only a few things I have done. Replaced the compact UVB with the tube. B has had 2 warm baths with chamomile tea added to the water. (2 cups to a gallon?) Water with electrolytes added eye dropper fed x 2 times. Polysporin to his facial area. I have not moved him to a different environment. We have worked off a couple of the spikes with old shed.